New Energy Secretary Address Los Alamos Employees

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham.

Department of Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham recently made his first visit to Los Alamos since becoming energy secretary. One of his stops was TA-55, where he was given a lesson on how to work in a glove box and an overview of the Laboratory's plutonium pit fabrication program. He also was trained and performed a step in the pit fabrication and certification process. "What the trip today has so far done is reinforce my pride in and confidence in the people who work in our labs," Abraham said. "I wanted to come here early to just reinforce my already-held opinion of the quality of work done here and to try to assess some of the needs so I could be a more effective participant in the [national security] reviews." Abraham later told reporters he is working closely with NNSA Administrator Gen. John Gordon to identify challenges the DOE faces and how it can work with the National Security Council, Department of Defense, and other agencies. One of those challenges, he said, is long-range strategic decisions as to the U.S.'s nuclear forces, the nation's stockpile of nuclear weapons in relation to nonproliferation, and counter-proliferation programs. Gen. Gordon accompanied Abraham on his April 19 visit.

Editor's note: The following excerpts are from Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham's April 19 all-hands meeting at Los Alamos.

...Los Alamos has a history that is a special one and, perhaps, can best be described as humbling to all of us. I'm sure when you think about the people in whose footsteps you have followed-the Oppenheimers, the Tellers, and others, it's on one hand inspiring and on the other hand kind of overwhelming. I suspect that's a daunting challenge, but I believe that the people working here today are every bit as able and talented as those who preceded you, and we look forward to accomplishing great things together.

You look at what has happened and what Los Alamos has been able to contribute to mankind, and in my judgment those benefits are incalculable, whether it was victory for the Allies in the second world war or it was victory for the West in the Cold War. But for you, breakthrough science would take place in another country. But for you, supercomputing would be a technology for us to purchase abroad, not develop and refine here at home. And, but for the people who've worked at this facility, we would now be living in the 55th year of the Cold War, instead of enjoying the eleventh year of the peace dividend.

...But we don't live in a totally peaceful world, even though the Cold War may be over. It's still a dangerous place. Our stockpile, the weapons that are built and maintained, is a result of no small measure of the work that's here, remain the vital factor that ensures the stability of America's national security in a changing and dangerous world. As much as we admire the work of the scientists who brought us the first weapons-Fat Man and Little Boy-it is clear that your scientific contributions are no less important than theirs.

...Gen. Gordon has pointed out to me that our labs are today again exploring territory that is virtually as uncharted and complex as that which was opened up by the scientists of the Manhattan Project. No one in history, as far as I know, has ever tried to confirm the reliability of weapons without testing them, and yet, that's precisely what we are doing now. It's really an astonishing technical and scientific enterprise, and it calls for the same qualities of genius that this facility has unleashed throughout its history.

At the same time, our mission today is broader and more difficult because we have added counter- proliferation and nonproliferation to our traditional missions of deterrents as we attempt to reduce a host of threats to our nation. I can't think of anything more compelling in terms of a mission or one that calls upon a greater degree of technical excellence than those that we confront today.

...I consider nothing that I have in terms of responsibility more important then the duty that I share with the secretary of defense to certify to the president, along with our Lab directors, the fitness of our stockpile... What I've tried to convey to the White House and to the other policymakers is the significant importance of the stockpile stewardship process that we are so integrally tied up with here in the department and the NNSA. In an era where we donšt test, as you know better than anybody does, the work that we do to certify is the most critical component in many respects of America's national security that we have.

Our deterrent capability is only premised on the belief on the part of the rest of the world that the weapons we have will work in a reliable fashion. If we don't test those weapons, but in fact work through the science-based stockpile program to try to ensure that reliability, then the work you're doing is probably as central as anything could possibly be to the long-range security of this country.

It is my hope and my plan to work together with John Gordon to make sure that sufficient resources are provided to be able to do that work in the fullest sense. Š

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